5 Questions Every First-Time Landlord Should Ask Before Renting Out a Home

Letting agencies handle dozens or hundreds of tenancies a year, and over time they build a standard process for a reason: informal handshake agreements tend to produce disputes. If you're renting out a property for the first time without an agency, it's worth borrowing that process rather than skipping it.

1. Do I have a dated record of the property's condition before handover?

Not photos you took on your phone six months ago when you were still living there — a record from the day the new tenant gets the keys.

2. Is that record something a third party would trust?

If a dispute ever escalates beyond a conversation between you and your tenant, informal photos are easy to dismiss. An independent, timestamped inspection is harder to argue with.

3. Have I documented fixtures and appliances specifically, not just rooms?

General room photos miss the details that actually cause disputes — a scratch on a specific appliance, the condition of a specific tap or fitting.

4. Do I have a plan for the move-out inspection, not just the move-in one?

A move-in record without a matching move-out record only tells half the story. You need both, captured the same way, to make a fair comparison possible.

5. Am I comfortable being the only source of truth if something is disputed?

If the honest answer is no, that's a sign to bring in independent documentation rather than relying on your own word against your tenant's.